Week 5: Scouting the West Suburban

Willowbrook (3-1, 2-0) at Hinsdale South (3-1, 2-0)

West Suburban Gold

Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Last week: Willowbrook 45, Addison Trail 0; Hinsdale South 31, Downers Grove South 17.

Last year: Hinsdale South 30, Willowbrook 27.

Outlook: It's still early, but this game could end up deciding the Gold champion. Last week's victories are a main reason why. The way the defenses played, both quarterbacks - Willowbrook's John Taylor and Hinsdale South's Justin Kolzow - need to be wary. Sam Tumilty nabbed two of the Warriors' 5 interceptions last week, including a pick six. Hinsdale South's Charles Franklin and Devin Smith each had 2 interceptions and returned three of the four for touchdowns. That'll make the run game critical, and Willowbrook has one of the area's better backs in Jack Jessen, who's rushed for 632 yards and 7 touchdowns. Hinsdale South's Marquese Garrett is only a sophomore but he's been consistently close to 100 yards throughout this season. With the potential for a lit-up scoreboard, keep an eye on the defensive linemen, especially Hinsdale South's Oshikhai Ebikhumi and Willowbrook's Nick Rushing. They've disrupted plenty of offensive plans this season.

Next week: York at Willowbrook; Hinsdale South at Proviso East.

Downers South (1-3, 1-1) at Addison Trail (2-2, 0-1)Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The quick hit: Matt Greenwald's 257 passing yards for the Mustangs last week came with 4 interceptions. Not much went right for Addison Trail against Willowbrook, but there's good news with the return from injury of quarterback Michael Ruffolo.

Glenbard West (3-1, 1-0) at Downers North (2-2, 1-1)Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The quick hit: Thanks to the effectiveness of Hilltoppers running backs Tyquan Cox and Dre Thomas, Ryan Diver has been able to bolster the defense at linebacker. The Trojans need to keep that offense off the field with backs Drew Shelly and Tavion Thompson.

Hinsdale Central (3-1, 2-0) at York (0-4, 0-2)Game time: 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The quick hit: Hinsdale Central has plenty of skill with running backs Garrett Oakey and Luke Skokna, but it'll be up to a young offensive line to keep the chains moving. York needs to sustain the defensive flashes it showed early against Glenbard West last week.

Lyons (4-0) at Leyden (2-2)

When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.

Last year's result: Lyons 38, Leyden 13

Outlook: Leyden played a complete game last week in blowing out Proviso East. Leyden also was able to do that without top running back Gabriel Guarderas, who had rushed for 384 yards in the Eagles' first 3 games. Ata Hawani stepped in quite nicely and scored a pair of rushing TDs as well as a punt return. Leyden will have its hands full against a Lyons team that is ranked in the Top 10 in the area and is averaging 33 points per game.